All lessons › Food Web Dominoes › Lesson 1
Australian primary science · Years 5–6 · Lesson 1 of 1
Food Web Dominoes
Inquiry question: Could losing one prey species affect several predators?
Marked no materials needed
Analysing a supplied case file
What students learn
Interpret a connected food web and predict direct and indirect effects without overstating certainty.
Success criteria
- I can read the supplied evidence accurately.
- I can support an explanation using two details.
- I can identify a claim that goes beyond the evidence.
Preparation and materials
Before this lesson: Understand arrows from food to eater and that one animal may have more than one food source.
- Charged iPad per individual or pair — One per student or pair
- Projector — One
Teacher setup
- Open the assigned lesson and present the slides.
- Show the lesson QR; students enter one or two names and start.
- Use the lesson timings: allow 45–55 minutes plus first-use sign-in time. Do not add copying to fill a full hour.
- All evidence is supplied in the lesson. No equipment, worksheets or external websites are necessary.
Safety and adaptations
- Screen-based evidence inquiry only. Do not perform physical experiments or imitate hazards described in the case files.
Review your school policies and curriculum requirements before teaching.
How to investigate
The lesson sequence should leave pupils with evidence to interpret, not only an activity to finish.
- Write at least five feeding arrows.
- Identify two direct consumers of grasshoppers.
- Predict one possible bird and lizard response.
- Explain how hawks might be indirectly affected, or not.
- Suggest a useful observation to test a prediction.
Teacher modelling prompt
Read 'grasshopper → small bird' and 'small bird → hawk' as linked feeding arrows. Find a different hawk food source to model an alternative pathway.
Record and explain evidence
Recording question: Could losing one prey species affect several predators?
| Food link | Alternative food | Possible effect |
|---|---|---|
| ________________ | ________________ | ________________ |
Example recording headings; record actual observations, including inconclusive results.
Discussion prompt
Which claim is more strongly supported? Quote evidence and explain why.
Provided example or reference data
Fictional feeding links · arrows food to eater
| Food | Eater | Other prey |
|---|---|---|
| Grass leaves | Grasshopper | Not stated |
| Grasshopper | Small bird | Other insects |
| Grasshopper | Lizard | Other insects |
| Small bird | Hawk | Lizard or mouse |
| Lizard | Hawk | Bird or mouse |
| Seeds | Mouse | Other plant foods |
| Mouse | Hawk | Bird or lizard |
Check the data source in the teacher lesson. Illustrative or fictional data are not measurements collected by your class.
Check understanding
What should pupils know? What is a food web?
Explain with evidence: Why might small birds remain despite fewer grasshoppers?
Apply the idea: Which evidence would help evaluate a hawk prediction?
Teacher answer guidance and saved classroom work are available through the main lesson experience where supported.